Zimbabwe Government Accuses Foreign Diplomat and Activists of Destabilization Efforts Ahead of SADC Summit

The Zimbabwean government is accusing an unnamed foreign diplomat, religious leaders, civil society, and opposition activists of attempting to make the country ungovernable ahead of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit on 17 August. Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Jenfan Muswere vowed that "the full might of the law will be deployed" in response.

Former Citizens Coalition legislator Prince Dubeko Sibanda has openly called on Zimbabweans to rise up during the SADC gathering. He is advocating for SADC to discuss the disputed August 2023 elections, which the regional bloc labeled as flawed.

Muswere stated that the government is aware of those behind the plots. "We are fully aware of futile machinations by failed opposition elements and archbishops of anarchy and despondency, who are disguising themselves as members of the clergy and working together with some rogue student activists," he said.

On Wednesday, four civil society activists were forcibly removed from a domestic flight at Robert Mugabe International Airport and held incommunicado for eight hours by state security agents. The detainees included Namatai Kwekweza, a recipient of the Kofi Annan NextGen Democracy Prize, Robson Chere of the Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe, opposition councillor Samuel Gwenzi, and Vusumuzi Moyo. They were accused of participating in a demonstration earlier.